Expansion and Strengthening of the Protected Area Subsystem of the Outer Islands of Seychelles and its Integration into the broader land and seascape. This is a GoS-UNDP-GEF project implemented from 2014-2018.
Background
Seychelles’ existing protected area system is primarily situated in the Inner (Granitic) Islands of the country. The Outer Islands of the Seychelles make up more than half of the total number of islands within the archipelago and include nine of the twenty Important Bird Areas (IBAs) of Seychelles, but at present there are only two fully gazetted protected areas in the Outer Islands: (i) Aldabra Special Reserve (15,260 ha terrestrial and 23,100 ha marine) and (ii) the African Banks Protected Area (2 ha terrestrial and 3 ha marine), as well as two declared Nature Reserves (Boudeuse and Etoile, each less than 1 ha).
Expected Outcomes
The aim of the OI project is to promote the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial and marine biodiversity in the Seychelles’ Outer Islands by expanding the protected areas system and strengthening protected area management, supported by broad-scale ecosystem planning and sustainable land management activities to conserve ecosystem functions. It consists of the following components:
• Establishment of new protected areas; and
• Development of an institutional framework supporting the integrated management of the new PAs.